Tadej Pogacar launched an attack near the top of the first climb of the Tour de France and extended his lead after a high-speed, twisty descent that allowed him to retake the yellow jersey as leader of the overall standings on Tuesday.
Double reigning Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard did his best to limit the damage, but he still lost 37 seconds after stage four. The peloton returned to France, after negotiating the first stages in Italy.
“That was more or less our original plan, but we executed it very well,” said Pogacar, after winning his 12the stage victory at the Tour de France. “I wanted to set the tone today. I know this stage by heart. I’ve trained here a lot. It felt like I was at home.”
“I was confident from the start; my legs were fresh, and I knew I had to take risks. I know the descent, but I was slightly surprised by the wet road in the first few corners [à cause de la fonte des neiges]. So it was a little scary.”
The ascent of the legendary Col du Galibier, which peaks at an altitude of 2,642 m, once again proved decisive.
Richard Carapaz, who had been leading the cumulative standings until then, was dropped at the pass.
After his UAE Team Emirates team set the pace for the climb with a very high pace, only Vingegaard and a handful of other cyclists were able to keep up the pace towards the summit of the Galibier.
Pogacar then launched an attack, around 800m in, and he built up a ten-second lead over Vingegaard at the top. The descent then stretched for almost 20km towards the finish line, and Pogacar took advantage of this to extend the gap, while Vingegaard maintained a more cautious approach. The latter suffered broken collarbones and ribs, as well as a collapsed lung, in a violent high-speed crash in April.
Ontario’s Derek Gee, from the Israel-Premier Tech team, was the best representative of the maple leaf by virtue of his 17e place, 3:07 behind Pogacar. Quebecers Hugo Houle and Guillaume Boivin, Gee’s teammates, finished 97th respectivelye and 126e.
In the cumulative ranking, Gee is in 21e place at 4:47 of Pogacar. Houle and Boivin follow at 64e and 134e echelons.
Pogacar, who also wore the yellow jersey as leader on stage two, is aiming for a rare Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double after dominating the Italian event in May. He is also aiming for a third Tour de France title, following those in 2020 and 2021. He finished second to Vingegaard in the last two editions of the Tour de France.
The fifth stage will take place on Wednesday over 177 km between Saint-Jean-De-Maurienne and Saint-Vulbas. The cyclists will face two category 4 passes before battling it out on the flat, with a possible sprint to the finish line. The next stage, scheduled for Thursday, will also take place on the flat, and this will set the stage for the individual time trial scheduled for Friday.